When Jose Villegas’ grandparents died, he was in Mexico visiting with his mother. His grandmother, who had been ill for some time, died first, and his grandfather followed two weeks later.
In the middle of grief, mother (Delfina Villegas) and son looked at each other and asked: What will we do? The answer came just as easily: “We’ll open a restaurant,” the pair said.
That was more than two years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the duo has opened Cocina Mamá Cholita, named after Delfina’s mother. It opened officially on Feb. 11, 2023, at 3471 Mission St. near Kingston and, in November, won the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts annual “Mole to Die For” competition.
Like their rich red-brown mole made from blended local chiles, seeds, cacao, spices and other ingredients, many of Villegas’ recipes trace their roots back to Morelia, Michoacán, the state’s capital and where Delfina Villegas, now 71, grew up.
It’s also where her son José, 32, spent time with his grandparents. Near the end of his grandmother’s life, he also became a primary caregiver.
Mamá Cholita taught Delfina the cooking techniques and how to make mole “chile by chile” through a careful process of browning each one. Her parents lived on a ranch surrounded by chickens, turkeys, corn and other produce and livestock they relied on. “All of our life, we grew what we ate,” she said.
Delfina described her mother as a gifted cook with a generous heart. She was always invited to cook for quinceañeras in Morelia, and “people would come, because they knew that she would always give corn, milk, whatever it was.”
Each day began at 3 a.m. Mamá Cholita would clean the house, make tortillas, and prepare for the day’s work.
Delfina first brought her mother’s cooking to the Mission District when she was about 30. Three years later, she got married and decided to stay, but traveled frequently to Mexico to care for her parents.
In the Bay Area, she worked as a cook and, whenever she went to Mexico, she remembered her bosses saying: “Don’t go, don’t go.”
Four decades later, mother and son have adopted the matriarch’s routine. For months, they rose before dawn to prepare the food, cook and serve customers, on repeat — just the two of them.
They worked more than 14 hours a day. They would also advertise the restaurant by giving out samples and, while some enjoyed them, others turned up their noses, sometimes ignoring the pair completely on the sidewalks in the Mission.
It took time to build up a clientele at Cocina Mamá Cholita, but they did. Eventually, José’s wife, Paulina, came from Mexico to help with the business: Taking orders, serving, and preparing food. Meanwhile, José worked to grow their social media presence and market the restaurant.
Now a portrait of Mamá Cholita hangs above the counter, and customers from across Mission frequently pop in to enjoy the sope and enchiladas, and to order tamales. The latter are especially popular during Christmas. Delfina uses the same recipe from her mother, and spends her days delivering tamales.
On a recent Thursday, the mother and son duo sat together, recalling their journey. Patting his mother’s hand, José looked to Delfina and said, “You have always been a hard worker, and now you have your own business.”
Cocina Mama Cholita is open for to-go lunch on Wednesday and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., for dinner from Tuesday through Friday, and all day on the weekends, but check their hours.
They are now accepting tamale orders for the holidays.
I need to go back there. I’ve been a couple times and was treated well and served some of the better Mexican food I’ve eaten (and I’ve eaten a lot of Mexican food). If the room were a little nicer, I’d visit more often.